In overhead wiring, a long-reach tool is generally used in consideration of operator's safety. To grip an object, in particular, long-reach pincers with pincers attached thereto as a tip tool is used.
A gripping device such as pincers often encounters situations in which a gripping state needs to be maintained to retain a certain work state. In the case of the long-reach pincers, since the pincers are attached to a tip of a long-reach operating rod, even handling the long-reach pincers is highly burdensome for an operator. Therefore additional work of maintaining the gripping state further increases operator's fatigue. Moreover, the large burden on the operator causes problem of lower safety level and work efficiency.
In view of this, indirect live-line gripping tools (e.g., long-reach pincers) capable of being locked in a gripping state have been proposed in the conventional techniques. FIG. 6 shows an example of a conventional long-reach pincers 100.
In the long-reach pincers 100 shown in FIG. 6, pincers 102, a gripping device, are attached to a tip of a long-reach operating rod 101 including a main shaft 101a, formed of an insulating material, and an operating shaft 101b attached along the main shaft 101a in a substantially parallel manner. An operating lever 103 is pivotally supported (a turning center 103b) on the main shaft 101a in a hand side. The pincers 102 can be opened or closed through the operating shaft 101b connected to a point 103a of action at one end in the operating lever 103. A lock structure 104 capable of locking the pincers 102 in a state of gripping an object to be gripped is provided in a vicinity of the operating lever 103. An enlarged view of a structure around the operating lever 103 is shown in FIG. 7.
As shown in FIG. 7, the long-reach pincers 100 (see FIG. 6) includes the lock structure 104 around a position at which the operating lever 103 is pivotally supported. The lock structure 104 is provided with a unidirectional rotation mechanism 105 including a ratchet gear 105a integrally provided with the operating lever 103 and a ratchet pawl 105b arranged to be engageable with the ratchet gear 105a. 
With such a configuration, when the ratchet pawl 105b is engaged with the ratchet gear 105a provided integrally with the operating lever 103 in a state of gripping an object to be gripped, the gripping state can be maintained even when an operator releases his/her hands from the operating lever 103. This can improve work efficiency in overhead wiring. The indirect live-line gripping tool such as the long-reach pincers 100 is disclosed in Patent Literature 1.